A Push Away From Madness
by Lady Perla
Summary: Jayne Williams, the daughter of a sergeant from MCU, is an ordinary teenager...or so she thought until meeting a man who makes her question everything she thinks she is and knows. Even though she had some deep contemplation in the past about what she feels, he does nothing but to wake up inside her demons she long thought dead. Story set right after Joker is caught at the end
1. Prologue

**A/N: Okay...so this first little...umm, thing is, what you may call, a sort of INTRODUCTION or, as I said when I named it, a PROLOGUE. The purpose of it is to let all of you know what exactly I'm chasing in this story and what I keep in mind while writing it. It may sound a bit pompous and hard to understand, but I really thought this should be said before posting an actual chapter. The first chapter will be out later today or early tomorrow. I really hope this small little intro will make you guys curious about what's going on in the story and I hope you'll enjoy the story overall because I'm very excited about it and I consider it a pretty promising idea!**

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_It's said that when we are born we're afraid of the Darkness and later we're afraid of the Light…_

_When a new born child comes to this world, its parents do the best they can to keep them safe and away from any appeal of evil or sin. Though still, as the child grows, temptation grows with them. Even in the child's early infancy, they're dragged to danger, to evil, to sin…for, after all, it's part of being human. For example, when a child first discovers FIRE, he is fascinated, intrigued by it and craves to be closer to it, to touch it, to know it better, even if they sense its dangerous, overwhelming warmth. What is more, the more the parents warn their child and prevent them from getting closer to this FIRE, the more the craving of the infant grows. And in the end, they do not learn their lesson until their pretty little fingers get burnt._

_But still, is the lesson completely learnt? Will the child never want to succumb to temptation ever again, even after he grows up? We all know the answer to that, for we all are slaves of human nature. Humanity is predisposed to weakness, to temptation, to curiosity and, ultimately, to FALL._

_Through our adulthood we are once again tempted, but this time, the objects which cause this have deeper meanings, depending on who we are or who we think we are. Some are tempted by money, some by fame and some by lust. The weak ones, or maybe, just the curious ones, succumb to this call and the stronger, though a very small number, fight it back and win…and their souls are saved. But what happens to the ones who wouldn't fight back? Well…some, thankfully, find their way back to the light before the End, some die in the shadow of their own foolishness and naivety and others…others who open their eyes too late and watch as they fall, they simply lose their minds. They go mad. Though, this is just one way of gaining madness…_

_Naivety and weakness are typical for many, especially in their youth. Wisdom and power are rare, but usual among those who made it through the first half of their lives. Madness…madness has no age limit and the truth is that we are all predisposed to it, one way or another. Some have it thrust upon them at birth, waiting for the right moment to come out, and some, as I said earlier, gain it._

_All in all, we can be sure of just one thing: Curiosity is mother of Evil, Evil is mother of Madness and **Madness is like gravity…all it takes is a little PUSH.**_


	2. Like a Maze

**A/N: I hope I didn't bore you guys with the first part...I hope. But here's the first chapter and I pretty much liked how it turned out! I hope you guys like it and if you do, please stop for a moment and give review I would highly appreciate it! And if you don't like it, that's ok too, I'm very open to criticism so if you wanna say something bad about it, say it through a review as well ;)! All in all, I'm very curious about your opinion and I hope you'll enjoy this!**

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"I told you once, I told you a million times: If I forbid you from going out somewhere then YOU DON'T GO!" a middle-aged woman yelled out as she pulled by one arm a young girl, while they were walking down a street.

It was night, about 11 PM. The woman was wearing a police uniform and she had a very upset look on her. She kept talking relentlessly as she walked fast on the sidewalk, with big steps, nearly running. With her right hand she was gripping the left biceps of a teen girl, almost dragging her after her. The girl was wearing a tight black long-sleeved dress which covered her to near the half of her thighs. She had on a pair of knee-length boots with no heels, though she was towering over her mother. She was very tall and had a slim body. She had long chocolate-brown hair and hazel eyes. From her ears, two big hoop earrings were hanging. She wasn't wearing too much make-up, just dark grey on her eyelids, mascara and light red lipstick.

"C'mon, mom!" the girl said while being pulled "It hurts, you know…"

"Don't give me that, young lady!" the woman responded not even looking over her shoulder "I told you, you weren't going anywhere tonight!"

"But mom, we weren't doing anything wrong! You saw us didn't you?"

"I don't care! You're just seventeen and I won't allow you to go out at such a late hour, not as long as I'm still breathing!"

"Linda, Amy and I were just strolling around town, mom! Nothing out of the ordinary or dangerous!"

"Not dangerous?! Three teenage girls dressed like this, walking down Gotham at night? Do you know how many maniacs are out there? Have you any idea how many kidnappers, thieves, rapists and killers are waiting in the dark?!"

"What are the odds for something to happen to ME, TONIGHT?!" the girl asked exasperated.

"Oh, thank God I found out you left and managed to reach you quickly!" the woman let out with a sigh, ignoring her daughter's question "And thank God we caught that maniac last night…With him free in the city…" she added in a more relieved tone.

"Well, if he's gone then why…"

"SILENCE!" the woman yelled loudly, for the first time stopping in her tracks and looking angrily at her girl, who froze immediately "You're too young, it's too late and you do not sneak out of the house ever again, UNDERSTAND?"

With her eyes widened, all the girl could do was nod. The woman glared at her a little more, and then continued to walk, dragging the girl after her.

Her mother was, in a way, right. With two of her good friends, Linda and Amy, she would go out, during the day, almost everyday and her mother was ok with that. But that night, since it was the last one in spring and the first of the summer vacation, they had planned something different. They thought they could go out together during the night for the first time so they could stroll in Gotham City when it is illuminated in its entire splendor. Amy and Linda's parents gave their girls their permission, but her mother didn't agree. Since she was a sergeant, she was highly aware of everything that was going on in the city…and she knew it wasn't pretty at all. Therefore, she didn't allow her only girl to be out of the house at night, no matter how much her daughter insisted. But Jayne, or Jay how her friends called her, didn't take no for an answer. Luckily for her, her mother, having the job that she had, would rarely be at home during the night, which left Jay all alone at home during most of the nights. So that night, with her mother busy at MCU, Jay sneaked out of the house at about 10 PM. Sadly for her, her mom wasn't fooled. With help from her colleagues she soon found out Jay wasn't home and spotted her quickly. Therefore, the woman was very upset with her daughter ignoring the restriction.

"Mom, where are you taking me?" Jay asked when noticing that where she was being pulled was nowhere even close to their home.

"I can't risk taking you home. I'm busy tonight and you might sneak out again" Jay simply rolled her eyes at her mother's cold comment "So I'll take you at MCU and you'll stay in my office until I get everything done. Then we'll go home together" she added accentuating the last word.

"Okay…" Jay let out defeated. Then she suddenly froze and piped out "But you said…you told me this morning that the Joker is held at one at the cells in MCU. You're taking me away from the streets they're full of maniacs and you're taking me in the unit where the father of all maniacs is?!" she asked, even though she didn't quite believe her lasts words.

"The Joker is in one of cells, all by himself, disarmed, in the opposite part of the unit you'll be staying, dear" the mother explained harshly.

In a few moments, they reached the doors of Gordon's unit. The woman pushed the door open and pulled her daughter after her. Jayne never entered the MCU before so she was unknowing of the looks of anything inside. Once in, her mother loosened her grip upon her arm, probably because there were many of her colleagues around. After greeting each one of them, she guided Jay around the unit, along many offices and doors. Without being consciously aware, Jayne kept an eye open for the cells, but she didn't see anything. The place seemed very much like a maze to the girl, so when they finally stopped walking, she felt relieved because her legs hurt a lot.

"There, stay there!" the woman said pointing at the chair behind the desk they stopped in front of.

Jay threw herself tired and silently on the chair. As her mother began signing some paper from her desk while sipping from the cup of coffee placed on it, her daughter looked around. Nothing out of the ordinary, just the average police unit. She could hear a phone ringing and voices of different people chatting. Different thoughts were running through her mind…thoughts which all had the same root. After a few minutes of contemplation, she said, staring in void.

"Mom?"

"Yes?" the woman replied, not looking away from the papers.

"How do you…How do all of you know that the Joker isn't just confused and misguided…not aware of what he's doing…?"

The scribbling on the papers stopped. Jay figured out that her mother stopped working on the papers so she looked up at her. The sergeant had her lips pressed together in thought and after blinking a few times and clearing her throat, the woman began in a soft tone, as if speaking to a very young or disabled person:

"Jayne…I know that in your little head of yours you think that everyone is good and that we all should just hold hands like in a John Lennon song, but those are nothing but fairytales. You're too old for fairytales now. You better wake up and realize that the world is a dangerous, two-faced place with all kinds of people who are ready to tear you apart, only caring about them" shed then added in a rougher tone of voice "What the Joker did, Jayne, was unex…"

"Sergeant Williams!" a black cop said suddenly, appearing out of nowhere next to her mother, interrupting her.

"What is it, Richard?" the woman asked.

"Trouble on street Wallany…looks like a fight between two gangs again" the man answered quickly while putting on his coat which he had had in his hands, looking very rushed.

That moment, Jay realized, paying attention more to the sounds around there, that everyone in the unit seemed to be on the run for some reason.

"Can anyone else go? Like Olsen or Dorland? I can't just leave Jayne…"

"Olsen and a couple of others are on their way there already but we need you there as well, sergeant. And Dorland is busy with the rest to go on Avenue 17…a hit and run accident occurred and two victims were killed" Richard added.

Sergeant Williams gained a very concerned look on her face, looking at her colleague who was ready to leave, but waited for her, and then at her daughter.

"It's ok, mom! You can go…I'll be fine!" Jay said trying to assure her mother.

"Alright…" the woman sighed. She then took her gun, loaded it with bullets then took her jacket of the chair Jay was sitting on "Don't move! I'll be back as quickly as possible!" she added putting her jacket on.

"Ok, mom!"

"The bathroom is there if you need anything" she continued pointing to the direction of the restroom "I'll be back in an hour, dear!"

Afterwards, Williams leaned and kissed her daughter on the forehead.

"Love you, kid!" she added before leaving Jay's sight with the other cop.

"Love you too, mom!" Jay said.

After her mother was away from sight, the girl kept listening to see what else she could hear from inside the unit. Rushed footsteps, voices which kept telling each other to hurry up and loading of guns. After a few minutes, Jay could also hear the sound of the doors being opened and shut again and again and, in the very end, all she could hear was the noise of car engines which shrank every moment, as if leaving. Afterwards, complete silence. Then Jay realized she was all by herself in the whole unit. Every cop left.

So all that Jay could right then was just sit and wait…wait for her mother to come back. An hour passed, but nothing. Two hours passed, still dead silence, a silence which bored her to tears. She had absolutely nothing to do in that office she was in. The whole two hours she waited she simply sat and looked at the clock on the wall in front of her, with her head rested on one of her hands, which had its elbow supported on the desk.

It was 1 AM already and no sign of movement, not a single one. She laughed at herself thinking that she had never thought that being all alone in a police unit could be THAT boring. Then it struck her. It struck her like a brick in the head…She wasn't actually all alone in that unit. Someone else was also there, at the opposite part. A thought came to her head, but then Jay shook it away saying it would be more than stupid. Then it came back. It was almost like there were two different persons inside her, fighting for a decision.

_'He's dangerous'_ Jay thought to herself. _'Yeah, but he seems so fascinating'_ a little voice said _'Fascinating in a very wrong way'_ another voice said _'That's true…but that's what makes you so curious about him'_._ 'I'm not curious about him…I'm just…I just wish I knew what's going on in his head'_. _'That's curiosity!'_…_'It may be but I shouldn't…I mustn't…I WON'T!'_…_'You won't have this chance again'_…_'Maybe it's not his fault for being what he is…I just wish I could see him for a couple of seconds, talk to him for a moment maybe…he's so intriguing'_…._'He's very intriguing…'_

"**SHUT UP!**" Jay yelled out suddenly, placing both hands on her ears, trying to desperately silence the voices in her head.

The Joker scared Jay ever since he first appeared on television with that disturbing video. She couldn't deny she was frightened when she knew he was out there, free, free to kill or kidnap whoever he liked, just for the joy of it. Who wouldn't be afraid by such a person after all? Jay didn't tell her mother, but the only reason why she managed to convince herself to sneak out was because the Joker was finally caught for good. It was a relief for her in a way because she had no more reasons to fright. But still, when she remembered then that she was inside the same unit with him, even though locked up, she panicked…She was afraid again.

But still…even though scared, then and weeks before when she had first heard of him, there was something…something about him that made Jay very curious about him…she even felt a bit dragged to him. For some reason, for some wicked reason indeed, the fear gave birth to a sort of attraction and wish of knowing what was inside his mind. It was as if he was a complete mystery and she just couldn't figure him out. "He's mad, he's insane!" everyone around her said. "But is he really?" she asked herself everyday since she first heard of him. For her, every deed that he ever done, even though shaking her to the core and frightening her, was a sort of a piece from a giant puzzle. A puzzle to understanding what was going on inside that man's head. And because no matter how many pieces came along, Jay couldn't put anything together, made her feel more and more curios and more and more attracted to him.

It was a strange mixture of feelings that Jay felt towards the Joker since day one. He scared her to death, but at the same time she found herself wanting to know him better. She wanted to stay as far as possible from him and also to get closer to him. It was like two perfectly opposite feelings and thoughts that were fighting against each other inside her. Jay found it very strange…more than strange, **_mad_**.

She contemplated for a couple of moments, then, without realizing what she was doing, she got up from her chair. Now she was standing. She began walking…walking out the office's door and on the long corridor she had come on.

_'What am I doing?'_ she asked herself. A voice inside her head told her she was going to look for the Joker around the unit. Half of her wanted this badly, but the other half was unsure and scared of that thought. She then stopped in her tracks and thought for a second. What was she really going to do? Go back to her mom's desk or go look for that man? She tried to convince herself that maybe, just maybe…if she encounters him or manages to only look at him in flesh and bone for a couple of seconds, the strange need to know him better will disappear and he won't haunt her thoughts any longer.

With that in mind, Jay took a deep breath and continued to walk, with her legs still shaking a bit of fear and a small part of her mind still being frightened. She looked around, having no idea where she was going, where she was or where the cells where, but she kept in mind that she had to be going in the opposite direction of where she was brought.

So she began walking, looking for the Joker in a place that seemed very much like a maze.

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**A/N: Chapter 2 will probably be out tomorrow night...so stay tuned ;)!**


	3. A Scar for a drop of Liquid

**A/N: I really hoped you guys enjoyed the first chapter and, in fact, thanks for reading it. Also, big thank you to the person who put this on Story Alert :)! Just so you know...this chapter involves THE JOKER...and so will all chapters from now on ;)! Please tell me what you think, it would really help me improve and tell me if I'm doing things right!**

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Jay walked and walked for many minutes. It almost seemed like an eternity to her, though, and it would seem so to anyone who didn't know the place they were in.

Jay walked trembling like a child. She was afraid of her mother's reaction if she eventually returned and didn't find her there. In fact, many fears were spinning in Jay's head: her mom, the fact that she might get lost and, ultimately, this strange man she was looking for. Her brain couldn't fully justify the reason why she was doing this, but all that Jay knew was that she needed to.

After turning left at the end of the third corridor she had passed that night, Jay felt she finally came close to her target. She looked to her right and saw bars. Jay felt one more mixture of emotions. At the same time she felt glad and regretful…and scared. What was going on inside her head? No one could give an answer to that. Not even Jay herself.

She moved on and saw big spacious cells. Some of them had prisoners, some not. Being the late night hour that it was, all the men inside were lying around asleep. This discouraged Jay a bit, thinking that the one she was looking for might be asleep as well. But if she was there she wanted to at least catch a glimpse of the Joker. She walked on and noticed that near the end of this part of the unit, there were desks and offices as well. Jay looked at her left and noticed a chubby policeman sitting on a chair, in a deep sleep. He had a ring of keys hanging out of his left chest pocket. Jay took a long look at him and realized he was the guardian…or at least on of them. She poked him a little in the belly to figure out if he were waking up any early, but from the snore he let out when she did it Jay was sure that the coast was clear. Right next to the guardian, at his left, there was a big table. On it, Jay noticed there were different types of knives, of all shapes and lengths. Near the end of the table she saw a purple coat. Jay took a better look at it and noticed it had a few stains which might have been blood stains.

Jay then shot her head to her right and suddenly froze. Her mouth went dry and her knees began shaking of fear…or, maybe, excitement? There he was. The Joker was all alone in his cell, sitting on a small bench inside, his face looking down on the floor. His hands were cuffed, but Jay could tell by the drumming noise his fingers made against each other and by the way he was slightly moving his knees up and down that he was wide awake. Not to mention that she saw him blinking a couple of times.

Jay walked around his cell so she could face its front side and, ultimately, to be in front of the Joker. He didn't move a muscle. The Joker probably couldn't tell that she was there. Jay took a few steps forward and a bar with her right hand, resting her head on it. She just stood there and looked at him breathlessly, relentlessly. Jay could feel her heart beat like crazy and her palms get very sweaty, all because of fear, but she just couldn't take her eyes away from the man.

The Joker's head was bowed down, so all that Jay could see mostly his forehead. His make-up was smudged up and parts of the actual color of his skin were showing up near the edge of his forehead. He was wearing a bright blue shirt, a green vest with matching tie and dark blue pants. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up above his elbows. Jay contemplated him for a while, the shaking of her body and her fear not ceasing though.

"Are you just going to stay there for the rest of the night or say something?" the silence was broken by the Joker after a few minutes, the man not even looking up at her.

The girl instantly took a few steps back at the sound of his voice. She was surprised, though, because he had such a soft tone, which was very far away from what she ever imagined.

'Say something!' a little voice in her head told her 'Like what?!'. Jay knew she should at least try to say a thing or two, but her mind was just blank. Her head was spinning, her heart was racing, her stomach was turning…she had been wrong…seeing him wouldn't make things better in her mind, it just made them worse. His presence made everything in her head worse. Jay licked her lips, open her mouth to talk but nothing came out. She breathed in and tried to ignore her knees shaking so badly.

"I don't know what…" Jay finally said, looking at the floor.

"Then there's two of us" the Joker said raising his head for the first time and looking up at the girl. His eyebrows cocked for an instant.

Feeling his gaze upon her, Jay lifted her head to look him in the eyes. But she couldn't for more than two seconds; afterwards she simply looked at his knees, trying to avoid anymore eye contact.

The Joker licked his lips and said in a soft voice:

"Could you…If you're here and…do you think you could bring me a glass of water?"

"What?" she asked looking at his face, but sticking her gaze at any other part than his two piercing eyes.

"I'm thirsty…" he added matter-o-factly.

"Oh…ok" she said as if waking up from a dream and blinking a few times.

Jay turned around and looked. She saw many doors from offices and decided to go look for a water fountain or a sink or a bottle of water in one of them. The girl took a step forward then stopped suddenly in her tracks. 'Why am I doing what he's telling me to do?' she asked herself. Jay found it awkward that her body began obeying his command with her brain not even questioning it. But then she told herself that what she was about to do was harmless and she shouldn't worry about wanting to instinctively do it. It was just a good deed after all!

Jay went to open the door of the first office…locked. Then the second…locked as well. When she reached the third door she happily noticed that it was unlocked. She entered quickly, looked around and noticed a sort of a mini-bar. Jay quickly stepped in front of it and, to her huge surprise, she found more alcohol than should be allowed in a police unit. After taking a better look, she saw that there were a few bottles of sparkling water as well. Jay grabbed one and exited the room.

Once back to the cells area, she noticed that the Joker had, once again, his head bowed, facing the floor. After seeing him again, a few warning bells rang into her head. She thought that maybe he would try something funny in order to escape, so she decided to take a precaution. Jay walked closer to the table of knives, pretending to be looking and to be assuring herself that the guardian was asleep, and once she was close enough, she grabbed a knife from it. It was the smallest knife and the closest to her from the table. Jay took it with a quick, discreet move and stuck it in her right boot, behind her knee. She then approached the Joker's cell.

When he saw her coming closer, the Joker shot his head up and said:

"I can't hold the bottle because of the…" he lifted up his bound hands "Could you hold the bottle for me while I drink if I come right behind the bars?" he added standing up.

Jay froze in her tracks, looking at him.

"No…" she let out.

"No?" he asked surprised "Why?" the Joker asked this question in a very childish manner.

"Because…" Jay began "Because I don't trust you! You might try something, even if your hands are tied up!" she added, surprised of her own courage.

The Joker looked very surprised…in a very childish way. He blinked a few times looking at Jay, then looked down at the floor licking his lips a few times as if thinking. He then sat back down, moved his right leg in front of his connected hands, then the other. When the Joker stood up once again, his hands were now behind his back.

"There…" he said licking his lips and looking at the girl "Now I won't be able to try 'something'" he said in a rougher tone, as if mocking her "Anything else you want me to do before you can give me a drop of water? A back flip maybe?" he asked sarcastically.

Jay approached the bars of the cell and so did the Joker from his side. She was surprised to notice he was probably just a few inches taller than her. She unscrewed the cap and held it up close to his lips. As the Joker began drinking from the bottle as he hadn't seen water for days, Jay managed to take a better look at him, at his face, at his…_scars_. She had been told by his mother that he had a scarred face, but she couldn't image it could be that bad. They were so deep, so long, so thick…she felt torn and in pain only looking at them. That made Jay think that he may be a savage murderer, but he looked nothing more than a victim to her in that moment. With her left hand she held the bottle, but with her right one, all of the sudden and without realizing what she was doing, Jay began petting his greasy hair, trembling while doing it.

After a few moments, maybe after realizing what the girl was doing, the Joker stopped drinking and looked down at her. She immediately retreated both of her hands and looked frightful at the floor.

"Am I frightening you?" he asked, his eyes piercing her, though his voice was so soft.

Jay couldn't deny it but she knew she couldn't just nod her head as a 'yes'. She pressed her lips tightly, looked up at his face then quickly back to the floor. She simply couldn't bear the Joker's gaze.

"You seem nervous…is it the scars?" he asked.

The question almost made Jay jump.

"Wanna know how I got'em?"

She breathed in sharply and then began biting the nails from her right hand, looking a few times at him but not bearing to maintain eye contact for more than a second.

"Look at me…" he whispered. She shook her head scared. "LOOK AT ME!" the Joker yelled out all of the sudden.

Jay almost let out a yell of her own at the sound of that. Her heart began racing faster and she felt a lump in her throat. The girl looked at her right, afraid that the guardian might have woken up, but because he didn't, she turned to look at the Joker, though trying to fix her gaze at any part of his face except his black eyes.

"So…I was about 15 or 16…" the man began before licking his lips "and I had…these two good-good childhood friends…who were brothers" he licked his lips one more time "and one night we went to a bar…where…where they didn't ask us for anything like…like I.D. or age…and they allowed us to order as many drinks as wanted" Jay was almost dizzy at the number of times the man had licked his lips till then "and, as you can imagine…we got really drunk…and wasted that night" his tone then got a bit harsher "and…and on our way home…we had a little fight, from money, of course…and…one of them pulled out a pocket knife…the other…the other held me and…they did this" he then turned his chin from left to right so Jay could see his scars fully "and you know what happened next…hmm?" his tone became more and more dramatic "no one in high school ever talked to me again, they said I looked too…'joyful'…they all turned their back to me…I was left alone" he added breathing sharply "Alone…" he then turned his back to Jay and began angrily pacing around the cell, mouthing the same word.

All of the sudden, the Joker kicked the bench in his cell, yelling out even louder than before "ALONE!"

Jay jumped afraid one more time. His story pretty much left her heart broken, but still she was very disturbed by the way he manifested while saying it. She looked at the guardian one more time…it was almost like someone slipped him a sleeping pill.

"I'm sorry…" the girl whispered, almost crying, looking at the man who was now with his back turned at her.

The Joker turned his head to look at her, breathing heavily.

"What…" he whispered before licking his lips again "Whatever is something like you…doing here at this hour?"

"I…" she began, but nothing really came to her mind. She attempted to swallow the lump in her throat and continued: "I just wanted to see you…"

"See me?" the Joker asked fully turning to her and laughing a laugh that scared here more than the yell "To see me…like a defeated animal in the cage, right?" he asked continuing to laugh madly

"No, I didn't mean to…" she let out with a suppressed tone of voice "I meant…"

"Well, let me tell you, love, that it's not over…no" the Joker said looking down at her, with his head pushed between two of the bars "It's just the beginning…" he added before entering a hysterical fit of laughter, walking away from the bars.

"I just…" Jay tried to speak but was interrupted by the man's noisy laugh "I wanted to…I just wanted…I WANTED TO TALK TO YOU!" she yelled, covering him finally.

The Joker slowly began shutting down his laughs. He looked at the girl, still chuckling a bit, and said:

"Talk to me?" he asked with a giggle "Why would you want to talk to me?"

"I…" she couldn't find the right words to say "I feel like a I need to…it's almost as if…ever since I heard of you" she shook her head in thought and began stammering "either I need to understand you or…or…or I need to be understood…something like this…I don't know for sure…" she then closed her eyes and breathed in, as if relieved from a heavy weight.

The Joker's face slowly turned serious. He came closer to the bars and looked at the girl before him, blinking a little. The Joker then licked his lips and said in his smooth, calm voice from the beginning

"You sound nuts…" he licked his lips again, looked down at the floor a little then back at her "That's why…that's why I'll listen to you"

The Joker then rested his head against one of the cell's bars and looked with tired eyes down at Jay.

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**A/N: Next chapter will be up soon! Please review XOXO**


	4. Not So Very Clear

**A/N: Sorry if I updated late guys, but here it is: chapter 3! I have to say a BIG THANKS YOU to everyone who put my story on Story Alert/Favorite List! You guys rock! Also I would like to thank my reviewers:**

**Beshineshi: Thanks for taking the time to review and thank you for expressing your opinion honestly and clearly! I must say I too thought of writing the story from Jay's POV but there are and will be certain points in which I have to go 'outside' her reach, such as other character's opinions or thoughts and I don't find it too handy to switch POV's all the time. Not to mention that Jay sometimes did and will do things she isn't consciously aware of, because of instinct. ANYWAYS...thank for the review! XO**

**Allthelovers: Big, big thank you for your lovely reviews, dear! I'm glad you enjoy my story till now and I hope I won't disappoint you!  
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**Okay...these being said, back to the story! ENJOY!**

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"Well…" Jay began before licking her lips and sticking her gaze at the floor, thinking of what she should say next.

"Hmm…" the Joker let out dryly, blinking a few times and with his eyes fixed on her.

He watched her static, gentle frame, which for the untrained eye might seem very peaceful to the inside as well, but couldn't help but notice a few small things about her that told a lot. The Joker looked for a couple of moments at Jay's hands, at her fingers, at her nails. They were very short and bitten, two or three of them even had the color of dry blood at the edges, sign that the girl had bit her nails a bit too much.

He licked his lips and moved his gaze up, to Jay's mouth. The Joker could clearly see that the teen was pretty much kneading the inside of her lips with her teeth, ripping up tiny bits of flesh from them. Looking at her slightly bowed face and at her big eyes which kept moving around the floor, the Joker remembered one thing from shortly before. Jay couldn't look in his eyes for more than a second…and when she did, he could recognize something…something he hadn't seen in a long time.

The Joker's eyes kept moving from the girl's lips to her fingers, while in a deep contemplation. He thought of a few things before the girl tilted her head and spoke again:

"I was just wondering…" Jay started, her voice just a little above a whisper "if you have any justification…any goal…any thought for the things you do? Are you, like…maybe not but…still I don't understand why…and I'm wondering…" she licked her lips, moved closer to the cell and gripped one of the bars, trying in vain to look the man in his eyes "what makes you do these things?"

A silence then fell in the room. Jay simply had no idea how to express what she felt towards the Joker's action, but she felt she had tried her best, even though her speech was quite incoherent. But she thought that, since he was mad, the Joker could understand one way or another, what she meant. His answer may not be too clear or coherent either…but still it was an answer, and that was exactly what she wanted that moment from him in order to fill her curiosity. Jay needed just one thing…to her him speak to her.

The Joker looked at her between his lashes and before speaking, he licked his lips one more time and breathed in sharply

"Could you…" he said very softly looking for a moment at her fingers wrapped around the bar "…answer a question of mine first?"

The girl nodded her head quickly and anxiously.

"Do you often feel…" he paused as if searching for the proper words "all on your own, though surrounded by people?"

Jay widened her eyes as if asking a shocked 'What?', surprised by the unexpected question. Before she could even think of anything, the Joker continued:

"Are you scared when you think of how all alone you truly are?"

Jay slowly began moving away from the bars, with a strange sensation in her stomach

"What are you talking about?!" she asked breathing heavily.

"…when you know that barely no one gets you?" he kept asking, licking his lips, but not moving from his position.

"You don't even know me!" she said firmly though her legs were shaking and the strange feeling in her stomach grew "What makes you think such things about me?! You don't even know my name, let away…"

"Well if I'm not right…" the Joker began while starting to move along the front side of the cell "tell me that I'm wrong when I say that you never…you never found yourself crying in the middle of the night, for no apparent reason!" he then pushed his head between two bars of the cell and pierced her with his eyes.

Jay's mouth slightly opened in shock and she started breathing heavier. She stepped a few steps back again and looked at the man in disbelief.

"Tell me that I'm wrong! C'mon, say it!" the Joker said with a rougher voice "**SAY I'M WRONG!**"

Her heart began racing. Jay thought for a second…that was an ended chapter, a long ended chapter of her life…how could he by just one glance see what she had once put behind?

"You…" she stammered "You're _wrong_!" she whispered.

"LIAR!" he yelled out "**LIAR!**"

At the sound of the Joker's yell, Jay almost tripped and fell. For some reason, the lump came back to her throat and she felt a strange need to cry. Jay pressed her lips together, shut her eyes for a second and then, for the first time, she looked in the man's eyes.

"I'm not a liar" she said, being somehow disgusted of her own words that moment and shaking.

They looked each other in the eyes for some time. Afterwards the eye contact was broke by the Joker who began laughing hysterically.

"Oh, dear…" he let out between loud giggles "You're so cute!"

After a few seconds, the Joker got a grip and said, still smiling

"You know, love…I really have no idea how they call me around this unit. Probably most of the things they say are true…" he paused to lick his lips "but I'm not stupid…_I can see_!" he then started laughing again.

"See what?" she asked in what she wanted to be a revolted tone.

"Hmm…" the Joker said before giggling a little bit and continuing "Assuming I'm wrong, tell me…do those people around you, do they tell you to go back to sleep when you tell them you have a dream?" he asked in a whisper.

"Wh-…what?" Jay asked in confusion "What do you…what do you mean through that?"

The Joker smiled a sly smile. He looked in Jay's eyes, but she once again planted her gaze on the floor, breathing sharply.

"You know…you remind me of someone" he whispered.

He gazed upon her for a short while before adding softly:

"Come here! I wanna say something to you…"

At the sound of his words Jay felt her stomach do a flip. She looked up at him and blinked a few times. She was frightened indeed, but was very curious about what the Joker meant through that call. With heavy legs, Jay slowly walked to the bars.

The Joker looked down at her, licked his lips then leaned closer to her right ear. So close that Jay could feel his warm breath on her skin and his upper lip almost touch her ear lobe. Jay felt disgusted by the fact they were so close to each other and at the same time she simply couldn't back away from him.

"Stop shaking of fear" the Joker whispered in her ear "There's no point in being afraid _of who you are_"

Jay froze that instant. Whatever did he mean through that? The Joker remained in that position for a couple more seconds then turned her back to her, going deeper in his cell.

The girl let out a surprised gasp once the feeling of warmth next to her face was over. She shut her eyes and thought for a second, with a look of loathing on her face.

The Joker probably felt something closer to that, because he spit on the floor of the cell once he was deeper inside. He then once again turned to Jay

"And your question was…?"

Jay opened her eyes and wrinkled her nose even more.

"Why did you kill those people?" she asked in a calm tone of voice, supporting her entire body on the bars of the cell.

Before the Joker could react in any way, the girl flinched at the sound of a noise. From where she was right there, she could hear doors opening and footsteps, deep inside the unit. The cops returned to MCU, and surely, her mother as well. Jay felt as if she had just woken up from a dream. She quickly returned to her standing position and looked down at her clothes, trying to adjust them.

"I…" she said, addressing the Joker, as if trying to explain herself to him for having to leave,

"Don't justify yourself to me…" he said sitting back on the bench, as if scolding her.

Jay looked at him one more time, and then began to depart, trying to remember the exact way to her mom's office. She had passed the sleeping guardian when she heard the Joker's voice one more time, feeling a strong jab in her stomach.

"You can put my knife back on the table now…"

The girl was left speechless. She turned her head to look at him and saw the man staring at her.

"It's my favorite one so if you could please…" he added, licking his lips.

Jay slowly moved her hand to the back of her knee and pushed her fingers inside her boot. She took the pocket knife out and walked to back to the table next to the guardian, placing it on its surface. While doing so, the Joker followed her with his gaze the entire time and once the knife was out of her hand, he returned his focus to the floor.

She didn't look back at him, she couldn't find the power or the courage. Jay simply ran out of that part of the unit and stopped when she was between usual walls once again. Jay supported herself on one of the walls with her left hand, breathing heavily and running her fingers through her hair.

What did just happen? What did the man mean? How come he_ knew_? Why was her body shaking so badly in his presence? Jay went out to look for the Joker in order to understand what was going on inside his head, now instead she couldn't understand what was going on inside hers.

She only wanted things to be clearer…but now it looked like they were foggier than ever.

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**A/N: I'll update as soon as I can folks, hope you liked the chapter! Don't be afraid of being honest in your reviews! Speak your mind, I can take it ;)! OHH...and I almost forgot...there's a GOOD reason why the Joker spat on the floor near the end...you'll find out why in future chapters ;) But till then...can ya' guys guess why? XOXO**


	5. Smoke and Mirrors

**A/N: Sorry for the late update! I had migraine these days and I couldn't really focus, but thankfully now I'm feeling better and the new chapter is up! It didn't really turn 100% the way I wanted it to be, but...Anyways, HUGE THANK YOU to all those who Followed my story or Favorited it! I LOVE YOU GUYS, you truly make my day and I hope I won't late you down! XOXO**

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'_What did he mean? What did he mean…?_' Jay kept asking herself while walking faster and faster on the hallways.

She didn't know where her mother's office was and she couldn't remember the way to go either, but all that Jay wanted was to be as far as possible from that cell and from that man. Jay began supporting herself on the walls with her hands while walking for a few minutes, because she felt dizzy and limp, for some unknown reason. It was as if the Joker had absorbed her energy and confidence only through his deep, burning gaze.

Jay kept calling herself a fool for thinking of going to just see him, let alone talk to him. What the Joker had said, the way he acted and looked at her, everything disturbed her, shocked her and, most importantly, created chaos inside her. The truth was the Joker was an agent of chaos, but she didn't know it and she was to learn it the hard way.

Even though The Joker talked in tongues, Jay wasn't scared of the things she didn't understand, but of the things she understood from him. Those were the things that she put behind her and almost forgot and, somehow, the man guessed only by looking at her. A tear fell from Jay's eye as she replayed the Joker's twisted questions in her mind, questions which made her remember some of the years that had passed.

'_Do you often feel all on your own, though surrounded by people?_'. That was the first question the Joker had asked her and that shocked her to her core. The answer that Jay would have given then was an honest 'no', but what scared her was the fact that the answer could have been 'yes' a few years before.

Two years and a half of her life, she had suffered of deep depression, which led to many other unpleasant things such as anxiety, insomnia and, probably the worst, the loss of the will to live. Jay couldn't explain to herself how the depression had started, but the only logical answer she could find was the fact that she was all alone during her childhood. While being a little girl, she had no friends or playmates, she simply never managed to fit in anywhere and she was too shy to socialize as well.

After years of being alone on the playground and after growing up a little, this feeling of loneliness developed into something worse. At 14 she fell into depression. That was the beginning of the period of her life in which she wasn't living…just existing. She felt that no one could understand her at all and she was just a burden for her family. She had no one to cling to and later, when she turned 15, she even had a suicide attempt by slitting her wrists, but thankfully, the blade wasn't sharp enough and the only thing she got was a few scratches, though on her left wrist a small, superficial scar remained.

Her depressive state continued until she turned 16. Without any professional help, Jay found the strength to battle her weakness and, ultimately, won after a long, hard fight. Once again, she couldn't find an answer when she would be questioned how she found a way out. Probably she just grew sick of crying her life away and of being so gloomy all the time and decided to just put an end to it. The depression just disappeared as sudden as it arrived, therefore, Jay cured after years of torment.

What had happened to Jay then could be easily compared to the rebirth of the Phoenix bird from its own ashes. After killing all bits of depression inside her, she was a totally new person. From the girl who was always sad and frowning, Jay turned into a girl who emanated warmth and happiness everywhere she went. Many said she resembled a ray of light and that she simply lit up the room once she stepped in. Jay learnt how to socialize and people began feeling dragged to her and she managed to make her first trusty friends. All the persons who knew her since 14, including her mother, said the same thing: that she had made a change for the better and she was a completely different person. Also, Jay considered this won battle over depression the biggest achievement in her entire life, the period of time since then being the most beautiful one in her whole life.

Jay put all the years of pain behind and focused only on the present since then, but that man, the Joker…simply threw her back in the past through his words. And she couldn't even understand how he managed to. The Joker asked if she felt lonely, if she was scared, if she felt misunderstood or if she felt like crying for no reason. All his questions could have been answered affirmatively if asked years before, therefore Jay couldn't understand why she was so disturbed by them and, most importantly, how come he saw right through her, right through her shields and new persona, directly in her heart.

Jay began feeling dizzier and dizzier, like she was almost fainting. She could feel sweat running on her forehead while so many bad memories and the Joker's laugh were spinning in her head. She walked a little more and then stopped, supporting her back on one of the walls. Jay was breathing in and out heavily and a strange nausea began hatching in her body. She roughly rubbed her face with her hands, messing her dark eye shadow and her lipstick, and kept walking.

She looked around and noticed she was close to the quarters her mother had left her in. Jay took one more step and an intense pain struck her in the stomach. She remembered her mom telling her where the bathroom was and tried to figure out where it might be, from her position. Jay looked ahead and near the end of the hall, she noticed a closed door that had specific markings on it. She ran to it as fast as she could and once in, it was almost as she clicked a button inside her, because she felt an immediate need of unloading her stomach.

Jay quickly knelt at the toilet bowl and released the contents of her stomach, holding her hair back with one arm. From behind the closed door of the restroom, she could hear footsteps and voices, sign that the cops returned to MCU. After a few minutes, Jay stopped from vomiting and sat down in front of the toilet, with her back supported by the wall behind. She closed her eyes and thought about the situation: She was in a bathroom, she had thrown up, went dizzy, nearly fainted, remembered some of the gloomiest moments in her life and was sent in an emotional rollercoaster by just spending a few moments with a man. A psychotic mass-murdering man, but still a man.

The girl thought for a moment of how pathetic she was…so pathetic, it was almost funny…no wonder that man was called 'The Joker'. Jay opened her eyes, looked up to the ceiling in contemplation for a few seconds, and then wiped her sweaty face with her hands. She said to herself that there was no reason to panic anymore, for she was away from the Joker, she wouldn't see him again and, most importantly, there was no way for his words to have any influence on her.

"Jayne, dear, are you in there?" the voice of Jay's mother could be heard from behind the door, along with a few knocks.

"Uh, yeah…" the girl let out quickly, swiftly standing up and heading for the door, in order to lock it. She didn't want her mother to see her that way.

"Well, you better finish quickly…we're going home!" the woman added, drumming her fingers on the wood.

"I'll be there in a minute!" Jay said while looking alarmed around the bathroom and at her attire.

Jay quickly flushed the toilet and looked in the mirror. She was surprised by the sight which welcomed her. Jay could see her eye-shadow and black mascara smudged all over around her eyes and her lipstick smeared around her lips and on her cheeks, as if in a devilish grin. Her image reminded her very much of…but no, she couldn't allow herself to think of that…not one bit! Jay grabbed a few paper towels and cleaned her face with them and with tap water. Once her face was completely clean, Jay formed a scoop with her two hands and started drinking some of the pouring water, its cold temperature calming having an incredibly beneficial effect on her body.

The girl glanced in the mirror on more time and began fixing her hair. Then she noticed something strange: her right hoop earring was missing from her ear. Jay looked around the bathroom, but there was no trace of it. She frowned for a couple of moments because that pair of earrings were her favorite, but then proceeded to take a look at her clothes. She pulled the dress down a little then exited the bathroom.

Jay looked around and recognized the door to her mother's office.

"Ready to go, Jayne?" her mother asked once the girl entered. The woman had her jacket on and was playing with the key-ring in her hand.

"Yeah, let's go!" she answered, with so much excitement as if something inside her couldn't wait to get out of there.

"Wait a second!" the woman said, when the girl was already turning to exit the room "What happened to your make-up?" she asked frowning.

"Umm…I…it started fading away so I decided to just wash it off!" Jay said, trying to seem convincing.

"Hmm…" the sergeant frowned suspiciously, coming closer to her and grabbing her lightly by the chin "And where's your right earring?" she asked turning Jay's to the left.

"I have no idea!" the girl said honestly "I probably lost it around here or…I don't know, maybe it fell in the toilet…" she added trying to find a logical explanation.

"Ok then…" the sergeant let out skeptically "Let's get out of here!"

They both exited the unit, Jay behind her mother in order to follow her to the parking lot. Once she was out and her feet the touched the asphalt of the parking lot, Jay suddenly froze in her tracks and said, without even thinking or realizing what she was doing, to he mother who was way ahead of her:

"How long will the Joker stay celled here?"

Immediately after asking, Jay placed both hands over her mouth. It was as if another person spoke through her, because she had no intention of even thinking about him anymore.

The woman turned around and eyed her daughter with a surprised look on her face, though Jay had taken her hands away from her mouth quickly, in order to not seem suspicious.

"Well…" her mother let out after a short silence "He'll probably be moved out tomorrow night…at Arkham Asylum. Why?" the woman frowned once again.

"Uh…" Jay let out concerned "I was just asking…I'm just curious that's all!" she added, finally managing to make up a logical reason for why she asked.

"I hope so…" the woman said, eyeing her daughter one more time and heading to open the door of the car.

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That night, Jay pretty much had an uneasy sleep.

_Jay opened her eyes and found herself in a corridor, surrounded by smoke and fog. She ran at one end of the corridor and she noticed there was a mirror, making it a dead end. She ran into the opposite direction, the smoke making her eyes itchier with every second. The girl discovered that at the other end there was a cross between two other corridors. After randomly picking one and after a couple of minutes passed, she realized she was in a sort of a maze, which had mirrors at its dead ends._

_After reaching another mirror, Jay looked desperately around and heard the echo of a voice as she was running around on other corridors:_

"_There's no point of being afraid of who you are…"_

_The sound of that voice sent shivers down her spine. She recognized that voice, she had heard it before._

"_Shut up!" Jay yelled out running around the maze._

"_You're not like them and you know it! WE BOTH SEE IT!" the echo could be heard once again._

"_You know nothing! You know nothing!" she yelled running through a corridor._

_Once again she reached a mirror and she collapsed in front of it, for her knees gave in because of all the running. Jay began breathing heavily and she felt slowly intoxicated from all the smoke._

"_You're a freak!" the echo once more spoke._

"_I'm not! I'M NOT!" she yelled out, looking up in the mirror in front of her and seeing the reflection of the Joker in it, standing at the opposite end of the corridor._

"_You're just like me!"_

_Jay looked behind her, but she couldn't see the Joker through the smoke anymore. _

"_I'm not like you! I'm not like you!" she screamed while looking back in the mirror._

_To her horror, Jay saw that she was now wearing the very same make-up as the Joker, white face, black around the eyes and red from her lips up to her cheekbones. She kept yelling the same words, while the echo of the man entering a fit of laughter could be heard._

In her bed, Jay kept turning from one side to the other, breathing heavily.

"I'm not like you! NO, I'M NOT LIKE YOU!" she yelled out in her sleep.

Then, she suddenly sat up, waking up from her nightmare. She was all sweaty and kept breathing sharply. After trying to relax herself by waving some air to her face with her hand, she looked up at the clock on her wall. The time was 4:00 AM.

Jay got up from her bed and went to her writing desk. She turned on the lamp and went to the chest she had in her room, in which she kept different notebooks or old books. With shaky hands she opened the lid and began to violently look through it. Jay threw almost half of the chest containing on the floor before reaching the bottom and finding what she was looking for.

With trembling hands, she took the notebook and cleaned the dust off it. Jay looked at it for a couple of seconds before beginning to randomly turn pages. It was the notebook in which she wrote her thoughts about herself, society and the world in general, when she used to be depressive. It wasn't a diary, not at all, because she wouldn't write daily or what she was doing…it was just a notebook in which she poured all her thoughts of hatred and all the pain she felt inside. After curing, Jay's first thought was to burn it, in order to completely forget about the wickedness that was going on inside her mind, but because her mother didn't allow her too, she just settled with hiding it deep in that chest, under all those books.

That notebook was the proof that she used to be weak and a psychological wreck once, but it was also the proof that she had reborn and that she became a stronger, better person. The small thing that she was holding in her hands was the ultimate symbol of a chapter in her life that ended.

"I should've burnt it then!" she said to herself, throwing the notebook on the chair inside her room, which was already covered with several other items.

She felt as if the Joker had read every single thing that she wrote there, only by piercing her with his eyes. Therefore, Jay, probably because of the naivety and foolishness that was specific with her age, developed another curiosity…how come the Joker had 'read' her so well? How come he saw what she used to be only by looking at her?

These questions began burning inside her more and more and then she realized…She realized that in order to earn a closure and to fully understand, no matter how dangerous or stupid it was, she needed to see the Joker one more time.

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**A/N: Chapter 5 will be up soon! Please tell me your opinion if you have time XOXO**


	6. Morning after dark

**A/N: Yes, I know it's been quite a long while, but schools was merciless this period, so sadly I couldn't write too much. BIG, BIG thank you to all the people who reviewed and who put this story on their Favorite Stories/Story Alarm Lists. You Rock!**

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"Are you freakin' serious Linda?" Jay let out excited.

It was the next day, early in the morning, at about 9:30 AM. Jay was in her room, getting dressed while talking to her friend on the phone, on speaker.

The girl couldn't catch anymore sleep since she had woken up in the middle of the night. She stayed up thinking, just thinking, the whole time. What she was thinking of…Jay couldn't remember too well, but once she saw the sunrise, she automatically got up and started picking some clothes to wear, as if the whole time she just wanted to leave. She was aware of the fact that going to MCU one more time was more than stupid, but Jay only knew that both her body and part of her mind needed to go there; and that explanation was enough for her.

When Jay remembered to grab some breakfast, her phone rang and she began a conversation with one of her best friends.

"Yep, I am, Jay!" Linda said from the other end "I told dad how much we wanted to go see this concert, so he did a few arrangements and voila: Three front seat tickets and backstage passes for you, Amy and I!"

"You're dad's the best, really! Any other parent would get annoyed after being told over and over again for the past three years how 'cool, awesome and hot' Coldplay is!" Jay replied while putting on a pair of jeans shorts "Trust me: I speak from experience!" she added rolling her eyes.

"Thanks, Jay! I just can't wait a couple more months…I'm so excited!" Linda said.

Afterwards, there was a short silence on the phone, interrupted only by, what seemed, a sad sigh.

"Is everything alright, Lin?" Jay asked concerned and surprised, tightening a belt through the loops of her jeans.

"Yeah, I'm ok…it's just that…" Linda began hesitantly.

"What?"

"Well, I just think that Max isn't the one ok…"

Linda has had a crush on one of her guy friends, Max, for about two years. Jay knew fair well that her friend was almost, what you may call, 'obsessed' with him, for she would always ask around their common friends about what he does and how he feels.

"What is it this time, Linda?" Jay asked.

"I think something bad happened with him…I mean, he doesn't seem to be the same person. He became…" the girl struggled to find the right word "colder…at least with me! It's as if he fell into a sort of depression"

"Depression?" Jay let out while turning a shirt she had in her hands outside in "What exactly makes you think that?"

"I don't know for sure…last week he was all happy and bubbly and yesterday he was just gloomy for some reason…All of the sudden!"

"Maybe he's been through some hard times lately…" Jay suggested.

"But he didn't say anything to anyone! When I'm upset I always tell someone in order to get unloaded of all that negative energy. But Max…he didn't say anything to anyone, none of his friends, none of his…" Linda stated.

"Maybe he wasn't comfortable with talking to anyone…" Jay suggested, her eyes planted on the floor, in deep thought.

"Why not? I don't understand those kind of people" Linda said frustrated "Why do they close themselves like that?"

"It's not like they want to, Linda!"  
"Oh, c'mon, Jay! Be serious! All you have to do is open your mouth and talk the pain away…it's that easy"

Jay didn't reply. She looked at the white shirt she was holding in her hands, in deep contemplation. The shirt had the image of a green snake with big, beady, red eyes on it. Jay stared into the two brightly-colored eyes while many thoughts were running through her head. She inhaled and pressed her lips together after looking away from the shirt, still being in deep thought.

"Jay…are you still there?" Linda asked all of the sudden, breaking the awkward silence.

"Lin…" the girl said, before licking her lips, trying to search for the right words "If I told you I have a dream…"

"A dream? You dreamt something cool last night? Tell me, tell me please!" Linda let out excited.

Jay let out a loud sigh. She then covered her torso with the shirt she kept in her two hands and said in a disappointed voice:

"Umm, Linda…I have to go now! I'm busy in town today"

"Oh…well, alright then! Maybe…maybe you'll tell me what you dreamt later today, when you get back home?" Linda suggested.

"Forget about the dream thing. It was nothing…" Jay let out sharply before they said a final goodbye to each other.

After spending about half an hour in front of the mirror, Jay grabbed her bag and left. After a few minutes of walking down the street in the hot sun, a thought struck her like a brick in the head. Her mom was where she wanted to go! Her mom was at MCU. Not to mention that, in the middle of the day, the place would probably be full of cops. How on earth could she ever get to see the Joker again? The night before was a chance in a million and she felt then that she hadn't cherished it enough!

Jay stopped in her tracks to think the situation over. Her first problem, and her biggest, was her mother. She had already been suspicious the night before when Jay asked a few questions, so returning to the unit for no reason would only make her situation worse. Jay looked at her side for a few moments and what did she see? A Starbucks coffee shop! Then, the light bulb in her head turned on. That was it! She could buy a coffee and a snack for her mother saying it was a way to apologize for leaving without permission the night before. That way, the woman couldn't suspect anything wrong and would also be less mad at her daughter's mistake. As long as she had her mother out of the way, she felt completely confident that she would reach her goal, even though the unit won't be that empty.

Jay bought a latte from Starbucks and a sandwich from a near fast-food and moved on. In about a quarter of an hour she was in front of MCU. Right after entering, she had already collided with about three persons, people seeming to be very, very busy and hectic. She walked down the corridors, trying to look for her mother's office, but eventually got lost in less than five minutes. Jay then asked a few cops who were around her for directions. A bit later, she finally found her mother, standing in front of her office and talking to a group of people.

"Hi, mom! Jay said sweetly while approaching.

"Jayne?!" the sergeant said surprised when noticing the girl "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to see you!" Jay said with a wide smile.

"Hmm…" the woman cocked her eyebrow in suspicion "And why is that?"

"Because, well…I just brought you these" the girl said showing her mother what she had bought for her "It's a way of saying 'I'm sorry' for leaving last night!"

The woman eyed her daughter for a few more moments, and then her frowned expression turned in a milder one. She even managed to smile a little, in the corner of her mouth.

"Really? You came here just to bring me this?" Williams asked. Jay nodded her head quickly. "Oh, then…thank you, Jayne! It's very sweet of you!"

The woman grabbed what Jay was holding in her hands after kissing her forehead. Then, she took a sip from the coffee and said:

"Hmm, latte! My favorite!"

"So, will you forgive me?" Jay said with a smile, batting her eyelashes.

"I already have, kid!" her mom said "And by the way…I have just a few more things to get done before going home. Could you stay around for about twenty minutes so we could go home together?"

"That sounds perfect!" Jay let out in what was almost a scream of excitement. Her mother once again looked at her in a suspicious way, before Jay added stammering, afraid of the fact that her true intentions might be discovered "I mean…it's great! I'm, umm…glad that we could go home together!"

The girl then put on an innocent looking smile. After saying a pretty unconvinced 'ok, I'll see you later' the woman entered her office and shut the door. Jay could almost jump up and down of joy. She had tamed the lion and she also had enough time to check what she had put her mind to. Jay knew that she pretty much lied to her mom just to see a psychopathic stranger, but for some reason she didn't care at all…not one bit.

She knew though, that quite a hard journey was ahead of her. Jay had to avoid all the cops in the unit and find the way to the cells in record time. But luckily for her, not many of the cops, on her way in, cared of her presence among them and the rest just knew she was Williams' daughter, so they wouldn't bother questioning her.

It took her about five minutes to find the cells again, trying to remember as much as she could from the night before. On her way there, Jay tried to avoid and hide from as many cops as possible, not wanting to risk anything. But most of them were simply too busy talking on the phone or with the paperwork to notice her. Jay couldn't believe how lucky she was! It was as if some superior force wanted her to reach her goal. At the same time though, she was very surprised by the ignorance of the cops…after all, they are there to protect us from the bad guys.

Once she reached the cell area, Jay had a sudden epiphany…it was day time, that meant that not only would the other prisoners be awake, but also the guardians. She simply stopped and thought. It was true, the prisoners wouldn't be sleeping, but what damage could they cause to her? They were behind bars! As for the guardians…well, with a drop of luck they might just be taking lunch at that our, Jay thought smiling a little. Either way, she was determined to see that man, come hell or high water. Jay then shot her head up confidently and continued to walk.

Once passing about two cells, she realized it hadn't been such a good idea to take short jeans that morning

"Hey, Al, come take a look at this!" the voice of a male could be heard from one of the cells, the words being said in an obscene way and directed towards her.

"Whoa, nice legs babe….you busy tonight?" another voice could be heard, accompanied by a few whistles.

Jay turned red in the face and attempted to cover her bare legs with her bag as she walked by the cells. She tried her best not to make eye contact with the men and just look straight forward the whole time, but she couldn't help but notice that more and more prisoners stepped closer to the bars in order to see her better when she passed by. Most of them were whistling and applauding and others kept yelling all sorts of obscenities at her. Jay had never felt more embarrassed in her entire life. She tried to walk faster in order to escape that walk of shame as soon as possible. Her mother was right: all convicts see women as pieces of meat, and that's the most disgusting thing a man could do.

After a few more steps, Jay saw something familiar: the table loaded with the Joker's possessions and the chair on which the guardian had slept on the night before, only that this time it was empty. As the noise persisted, she looked around for guardians, but not a sign of one, fact that she found pretty peculiar. She then made a self note in her mind that she had to ask her mother about it. Jay then turned to her right and approached the Joker's cell. The man was still sitting on the bench, his legs stretched and parted a little in front of him and his head rested on the bars at the back of the cell.

Jay walked so she could be right in front of him. That was the moment when all the noise, all the yelling, shouting or clapping died instantly. Even if he was locked up, the Joker still seemed to drive fear in the hearts of the ones around him. The Joker looked up at Jay, then turned his head left to look at some of the men in the other cells, who were now as silent as lambs. He then turned his head back at Jay and, with a small gesture, began slapping his hands slowly, like a little child:

"Whoo!" he let out a short squawk, before stopping himself abruptly from clapping, offering the impression he was mocking the men who had yelled like a bunch of alpha males in heats.

Jay couldn't help but smile a bit at the Joker's dry humor. But the smile was short lived, because, once again, standing in front of him, she felt like she was about to faint. So after getting a grip, with her gaze planted on the floor, she looked up at the man before her, not daring to stare him in the eyes. Her legs felt like jelly for the second time.

"I…" said Jay before pausing to bite her bottom lip "I came to see you…again"

The man didn't react in any way, he just kept staring at her the same way he had since she arrived. Then, after about a minute of awkward silence, the Joker licked his lips, smearing his make-up even more and looked at the girl's shirt, saying:

"Cobra!"

"Wha…" Jay couldn't finish, because the strong, commanding voice of a male was heard from behind her, interrupting the so-called dialogue.

"YOUNG LADY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE?"

Jay swiftly turned around with her cheeks bright red. She recognized that voice, for she had heard it many times before

"Mr. Gordon, I…"

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**Next chapter will be up soon! Please review! :)**


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